This week has been so busy, I have barely had a chance to think, much less cook creatively. We also had a birthday(another blog entry) and several days of eating out.
The list of goods were:
- strawberries(finished by the next day)
- snow peas
- cucumber
- napa cabbage
- endive lettuce
- red lettuce
- tuscan kale
Finally, yesterday, the last day of week 3, I was able to make something new and creative.
I made Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Soup (Here’s the recipe I came up with after doing a little research…)
Ingredients:
1 medium/large butternut squash
1 large onion, chopped
4-6 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 medium bunch of kale, cut into long thin strips
chicken broth( at least one carton)
1/4-1/2 cup of cream
Instructions:
Roast butternut squash( I did this a couple days ahead). Cut in half, remove seeds, brush on a little olive oil and roast in a 375 degree oven for 45minutes-1 hour. It should peel right off the skin and basically look like it’s been pureed. Set aside.
In a dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pan, cook the bacon. I like to cook it til it just starts to crisp up. Remove the bacon to a bowl with a paper towl to absorb the excess grease. Leaving the rest of fat in dutch oven, add chopped onion. Cook for about 7-10 minutes til onions are soft and translucent, on a medium heat.
Add kale, let it cook down and shrink and soften. This will also pick up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
When the kale and onion are soft and gooey, add pureed squash. Stir it around a bit to get it incorporated with the other ingredients. Add chicken broth. Cover, and let it simmer. After a few minutes, check for thickness, add a good bit of salt and pepper, and taste. If it needs more liquid, add water. Let it simmer for a few more minutes, and at the last minute, add the cream. You can even use milk, or half and half, if you have no cream on hand. Give it a minute, for the cream to heat up, taste one more time, and serve. Garnish with fried bacon. Yummy!
The kids liked it! The roasted squash is really sweet.
